Pages

The Human Network: How Your Social Position Determines Your Power, Beliefs, and Behaviors

PinMaster • 1 week ago

Here is a fresh, intriguing, and, above all, authoritative book about how our sometimes hidden positions in various social structures—our human networks—shape how we think and behave, and inform our very outlook on life.

Inequality, social immobility, and political polarization are only a few crucial phenomena driven by the inevitability of social structures. Social structures determine who has power and influence, account for why people fail to assimilate basic facts, and enlarge our understanding of patterns of contagion—from the spread of disease to financial crises. Despite their primary role in shaping our lives, human networks are often overlooked when we try to account for our most important political and economic practices. Matthew O. Jackson brilliantly illuminates the complexity of the social networks in which we are—often unwittingly—positioned and aims to facilitate a deeper appreciation of why we are who we are.

Ranging across disciplines—psychology, behavioral economics, sociology, and business—and rich with historical analogies and anecdotes, The Human Network provides a galvanizing account of what can drive success or failure in life.

Opens up a world of connections This book shows you facts about the world that make so much sense even though you never really thought about them before. For example: when Chris Rock jokes “All my black friends have a bunch of white friends and all my white friends have one black friend,” that math is simple: The average member of the majority will always know fewer people members of a minority group than vice versa.Actually most white Americans have zero black friends, Jackson notes, which is another thing the…

Engaging and profound – a popular science book with real meat Early in the book, Jackson says, “There are a few key patterns of networks that matter, and so the story here involves more than just one idea hammered home.” This really distinguishes this book from many other popular books about social science. Some push one idea to its breaking point. Some want to teach you some hokey “laws” with a self-help flavor. Some, upon scrutiny, have no real ideas at all. Jackson’s book is the opposite of that approach – it reads like science, written for an…